Faculty Status and Rank at Liberal Arts Colleges: An Investigation into the Correlation among Faculty Status, Professional Rights and Responsibilities, and Overall Institutional Quality

Abstract

This survey of liberal arts colleges sought to determine a correlation between the personnel status of librarians and overall institutional quality. Based on the responses of the 125 colleges that participated in the survey, the higher the tier in which an institution is ranked in the U.S. News & World Report annual report on America’s colleges, the less likely that librarians will have faculty status or rank, the less likely they will be required to undergo a formal review process, the less likely they will have access to research funds, and the less likely they will be eligible to serve on campuswide faculty committees. Specifically, colleges in the top tier of the U.S. News and World Report rankings were almost seven times less likely to afford librarians faculty status and sixteen times less likely to afford faculty rank than those in the fourth tier.